The Essential Tips for Businesses Moving Offices

16 Oct The Essential Tips for Businesses Moving Offices

It doesn’t matter if you’re moving across the street or across town. Between trying to keep up with your day to day responsibilities while also tripping over half-packed boxes, moving offices can feel like an impossible task.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed about moving offices, we’ve got you covered. Below are our essential tips for business owners and employees to make your upcoming move as simple as possible.

For Business Owners

As a business owner, you’re probably the one in charge of coordinating the move. This is a lot of responsibility, but there are some things you can do to make moving offices easier.

Plan Ahead

The earlier you start formulating a plan for moving offices, the easier the process will be. Start by creating a timeline of all the stages of your move.

If you have a small office, you’ll probably need about three months to prepare. A medium or large office will need at least six to eight months.

Once you figure out how much time you have, start gathering as much information about your new office as possible. If you understand the layout of your new space, you’ll be able to determine how much you and your employees can take from your current office.

You’ll also want to identify things like electrical outlets and storage space so you can start planning where items like the copy machine, printer, etc. will go.

If your new office needs upgrades, make sure you’ve hired carpenters, painters, and other workers ahead of time. That way, when you do finally move in, you won’t have to deal with construction and cosmetic changes at the same time.

Communicate with Your Team

You might be in charge of coordinating the move. But, there’s no reason for you to handle everything by yourself. Meet with your employees, or at least the heads of each department, and delegate tasks. Give people specific instructions and set clear deadlines.

Whether you’re moving in three months or eight, it’s easy for employees to feel like they have plenty of time to pack up their stuff. Make sure to post regular reminders about the move and keep everyone as informed as possible. Moving offices is stressful, but keeping everyone informed helps.

Set, and Stick to, a Budget

Establish a budget early on, before you start packing any boxes, and stick to it. Determine how much money you have to spend on movers, moving equipment, repairs, and construction for your new office.

Hire Movers

Hiring professional movers will take away a ton of the stress that comes with moving offices. There are even moving companies that specialize in office moves.

Do your research and find a reliable moving company that will give you good service for a fair price. If you’re not sure which company to hire, ask fellow business owners for recommendations. You can also assign a couple of employees to investigate different companies in the area and compare notes on prices, availability, etc.

Invest in Insurance

If equipment breaks during the move, any efforts you made to save money will be in vain if you don’t have moving insurance. When you’re looking for movers, find a company that has a comprehensive insurance option to cover all of your belongings. You’ll also want to see proof of the company’s worker’s comp insurance so you won’t be liable for any moving-related injuries that occur.

When you’re looking for movers, find a company that has a comprehensive insurance option to cover all your belongings. You’ll also want to see proof of the company’s worker’s comp insurance so you won’t be liable for any moving-related injuries that occur.

Tell Customers You’re Moving Offices

How embarrassing would it be if you didn’t let your customers know you’re moving offices? There are lots of things you can do to keep customers in the loop, including the following:

Send out a printed or email newsletter

Post regularly about your move on social media

Post notices around the office

Record a reminder that will be played when people call your office

Update Online Profiles

When the big day draws closer, you’ll want to update your contact information on your website and social media profiles. You can also put your new address in your email signature and highlight it as an additional reminder.

Move Outside of Business Hours

Nobody wants to have to stay late or come to the office on a weekend to move their stuff. But, moving outside of regular business hours will cause fewer disruptions. You’ll be all settled and ready to hit the ground running on Monday morning.

For Employees

Share these tips with your employees so that the move can be as easy as possible for them.

Filing Cabinet First

One of the first items every employee should pack up first is the filing cabinet. It usually requires the most time, so getting this task done early is crucial.

Employees should go through the documents and determine which ones need to be recycled or shredded. Once they know what files need to be kept, they should put them in a box marked with their name, their new location, the box’s contents, and any notes about special handling — for example, if the box contains confidential information.

If employees are in the middle of a project and will need certain files soon, they should carefully mark them to be unpacked first so that they don’t have to waste time looking for them.

Packing the Desk

After the filing cabinet is packed up, employees should move on to their desk. Drawers should be emptied and only necessary supplies should be packed up. Any non-essential items should be thrown out or donated.

Packing Equipment

Additional equipment — computers, keyboards, printers, etc. — should be packed up next. Employees should take special care when packing up expensive equipment like this to make sure it stays safe while moving offices.

Personal Items

Personal items should come last. Employees will need to take into account how much extra space they’ll have in their new office and decide if personal items like pictures, posters, etc. will fit.

Ideally, employees should take personal items home and then bring them back to the office after everything else is moved in. This will help simplify the moving process and will also protect their belongings in case they’re damaged or lost during the move.